Udoo ramps up maker power with the Bolt super mini computer

Back in 2013, single board computer project Udoo launched on Kickstarter with a new mini computer that promised four times the power of a Raspberry Pi and all the functionality of an Arduino. Now the team is back with a powerful maker board called the Bolt that's pitched as "ideal for AI, Computer Vision, AR, VR and IoT."

As before, Udoo has launched its mini computer on Kickstarter, where it's already rocketed past its funding target with more than a month left to run.

"We designed the Udoo Bolt for the new generation of makers," said Udoo's Daniele Conti. "Artificial Intelligence, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Computer Vision – these are not sci-fi dreams anymore, but actual possibilities that, with the Udoo Bolt, we are making accessible for any geek out there." The board is also aimed at makers who want to get into AAA gaming, cryptocurrency mining, real-time big data analysis and edge computing.

The project's Maurizio Caporali says the Bolt is almost twice as powerful as a Macbook Pro 13. That shapes up to an AMD Ryzen Embedded V1000 SoC, with a four core, multi-thread Zen CPU and integrated AMD Vega GPU architecture, for up to 3.6 GHz of processing power and the ability to stream 4K video at 60 frames per second. And this maker board can drive up to four UHD monitors simultaneously in HDR picture quality.

The Bolt also features AMD SenseMI Technology, which is described as a "set of learning and adapting features that helps the processor tune its performance, optimize the energy efficiency and raise the clockspeed when needed."

There's 32 GB of eMMC storage built in, but the super mini computer can also boot from the M2 slot, which can be connected to SSDs. It can run Windows or Linux operating systems, and like other Udoo boards, is Arduino-compatible.

As well as rocking two USB-C and two HMDI 2.0 connections, tinkerers get Gigabit Ethernet, Grove connectors, two USB 3.1 Type A ports, up to 32 GB of DDR4 memory, Arduino-compatible analog and digital inputs, header interface and more – all on a board measuring just 4.72 x 4.72 in (12 x 12 cm).

Kickstarter pledges for the Udoo Bolt start at US$229 and, if all goes to plan, shipping is expected to start in December. The pitch video below has more.